It's only natural. Inevitable. Jesse Lynch has crafted a multimedia stage show that plays out the 20th-century evolution of American jazz. So ....

"It's kinda fun," said Lynch, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based pianist and musical adventurer. "We have footage of Dave playing that people see while we play 'Take Five.' "

Of course, that would be Dave Brubeck (1920-2012), one of jazz and choral music's most revered 20th-century explorers, and the 1959 song - written by saxophonist Paul Desmond - that remains his signature.

"I got to meet Dave Brubeck," he said of his 2003 connection with the pianist when Lynch was a student at Oberlin (Ohio) College. "I got to play with him and talk to him. He was very supportive."

Bubeck, of course, is the namesake of University of the Pacific's Brubeck Institute.

"It's hard to say what I took from him," said Lynch, 31, during a conversation from Manhattan. "You get inspired listening to people. They have certain personalities on their instruments. When it comes to improvising, I try to let everything go and see what happens.

During a two-hour, 11-song show, Lynch and his friends trace jazz's evolution from classical music to Scott Joplin, Robert Johnson, Benny Goodman, Charlie Parker, cool jazz, Latin jazz, fusion, contemporary and original material.

His improvisational instincts aren't all that novel.

"The great classical composers, up till the 20th century, were all improvisers," Lynch said. "That was almost completely lost in the last century or so. (Johann Sebastian) Bach used to play what the king wanted: 'I want you to improvise a four-voice fugue tonight.' "

Lynch hasn't had such a request: Audiences have been "almost 100 percent positive. My favorite thing is lots of people say they've never been jazz fans and still liked it."

While growing up, Lynch mostly preferred classical music.

Born in Northampton, Mass., Lynch lived in Wichita, Kan., until his family - dad Douglas, a college education professor, mom Patrice, an education teacher, and sister Jenny - moved to Wilkes-Barre, Pa., when he was 6.

His mom "helped inspire me" by playing piano with him. During private lessons, Lynch learned to "play by ear" - honing his skills at Wilkes-Barre's Encore Music Camp each summer until he was 18.

He also played in Wyoming Valley West High School's concert and jazz bands. That's when he first met Jazz 101 drummer Matt Smallcomb. He and bassist Joe Michaels have been friends since elementary school.

Planning to become a mathematician, Lynch attended Oberlin, which has a reputation for "really great" academic - as well as musical - achievement.

"It eventually became too much work to do everything," Lynch said. "I was pretty focused on classical music."

Obviously, New York was Lynch's logical jazz destination. Since forming his first band in 2009, he's performed in a variety of global settings - from New Zealand to Hollywood and Yosemite's Ahwahnee Hotel - while playing with Luxe, a New York collective, and during late-night jam sessions at New York jazz clubs. Entertaining at weddings is "actually a lot of fun and helps play the bills," Lynch said. He's released three CDs. Fittingly, his website (jesselynch.com) includes "jazz," "classical" and "spontaneous" categories.

"It just comes from how much fun it is to feel like you're discovering something," Lynch said. "It's opening a new door for yourself. Finding a new channel to really connect with whatever inside of you needs to get out."

For Lynch, there's "a lot of the history of harmony in jazz anyway. A lot of classical music has beautiful harmonic progressions. It seem like a no-brainer to put some grooves behind them" - which he's planning for his next album.

His mathematical acumen factors into his musical equation.

"Music is definitely on both sides of the brain," he said. "Jazz is the meeting of both sides. One is formulaic. Mathematical. Understanding the structure and harmony of the tune. It's also creative and open-minded. You can let things out. Jazz is the horizon where the two things meet."

That's a major aspect of his Jazz 101 theme. Lynch is on his fourth national tour - 65 cities - for Nashville, Tenn.-based Live on Stage. It's his first as a headliner.

"I like to find that line between the audience and accessibility of the music," he said. "And kind of being on the edge of finding new things and stretching the art. Our audience is kind of a theater crowd (that) will connect to a retrospective approach. They can see events, musical and cultural, from their lifetime. It's a pretty nostalgic trip for a lot of audiences."

Contact Tony Sauro at (209) 546-8267 or tsauro@recordnet.com. Follow him on Twitter @tsaurorecord.